On Which We Stand
by Eliza Humphries
Summary: Three Irish immigrants come to America, looking for Hercules Mulligan. When their ship isn’t cleared for entry, they instead go to Pennsylvania, where they look for employment in The Pennsylvania Gazette to pay their way to New York City.
1. In America

**A/N: Hello everyone! This is Eliza Humphries. I've ventured out of Black Butler, and after a three-year hiatus, I've become more mature regardless of the fact I'm writing fanfiction on an old cartoon. That being said, let's get on with it!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Liberty Kids. The only things I own are my OCs!**

The ship pulled into the harbor and a young boy scampered down from the ropes, running off towards a cabin in the lower level. "Marie! Fjord! We're here! We're in New York Harbor!" The Maasi boy opened the door and jumped onto the cot where a young woman was sleeping. Marie Walters groaned and slowly sat up. "Oh, come on, Bahai. Five more minutes?"

The boy sitting at the desk chuckled and stood, taking off his tricorn hat and running a hand through his messy red hair.

"C'mon, 'Rie," Fjord Morgan said with a grin, watching as the brunette slowly pulled herself out of bed. "We're in America now. We'll go find Mr. Mulligan and learn the trade." Marie simply nodded, yawned, and pulled on her coat. As they packed their bags and headed towards shore, the captain stopped them in their tracks. "I'm very sorry. It appears our ship hasn't been cleared like we expected. We'll have to dock in Pennsylvania instead."

Fjord made a face. "But we came all this way! Does that mean we'll have to find our own way to New York?" The children talked amongst themselves as they headed back to their cabin. Fortunately, the captain gave them another cot.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens," Bahai thought to himself as he slowly fell asleep.

 **A/N: Just for the record, Marie is 14, Fjord is 15, and Bahai is 13. Marie is Welsh and Fjord is Irish, while Bahai is a freed Maasai slave. All of them are immigrants from Ireland.**


	2. Meeting Franklin

**A/N: Welcome back! Today we follow the kids as they meet Benjamin Franklin.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Liberty's Kids!**

* * *

The day was surprisingly beautiful. Fjord pulled his trunk into the room of the inn they had rented. Bahai was already fast asleep on the large bed and Marie was nodding off. Watching his friends, Fjord sighed and set his trunk in the corner. The rules were simple. Breakfast starts at seven and ends at ten, supper starts at twelve and ends at three, tea starts at four and ends at five, and dinner starts at five and ends at seven. Don't run in the hallways, don't bother other patrons, and most importantly, don't touch anything that isn't yours. That seemed to be an important role in Pennsylvania.

Fjord sat on the edge of the bed and sighed. He knew he would have to look for work to sustain them as they stayed in the city. He stretched before waking up Bahai to take him and Marie to go get some supper. They were lucky enough to have found a place to stay with all of the people flooding out of the ship. They would either need to get a ship going to New York, get a series of carriages headed to the city, or get a horse. Or several horses. All of those options were rather expensive and he knew Uncle Herc was expecting them. So he decided to go with the least expensive - the horses. He grabbed his friends before heading downstairs. After they got their supper, they headed outside and went off to find work.

Fjord glanced into the windows of various shops, looking to see if anyone was hiring. As an aspiring tailor, nobody was really looking for someone like him. The tailor in town was looking for someone with experience. The only experience he had was stitching on buttons.

Marie wasn't deterred by this. She may have been a lady but she didn't act like one. She certainly didn't dress like one. She was an amateur cobbler, but still, nobody wanted to hire a girl for work. Besides, she slept too much to be bothered.

Bahai didn't have many talents, but he was good at carving wood. Still, as a freed slave, he had to be incredibly careful even when he was with his friends. Most people didn't even think he was a person.

Finally, just before he gave up, Fjord found a flyer on the ground. "What's this?" he said to himself, picking it up. "The Pennsylvania Gazette?" Marie added, glancing over his shoulder. "Now hiring? When I looked in the window I saw plenty of workers," Bahai added with a shrug. "It is a small place." Fjord hummed before they headed off to the press. He couldn't believe that Benjamin Franklin was looking for workers. Maybe it was too good to be true.

Fjord pushed open the door to the building. "Hello?" he said, looking around. He stepped into the building. It was rather late, after all. He didn't expect anyone to be home. Sighing, he turned to leave, until he heard a voice call out. "Who's there?"A young boy who appeared to be about Bahai's age darted out from a room. "Henri, wait!" Another boy, older this time, ran out after him. "I'm sorry about him," the older boy said, scooping up the younger one. "My name is James Hiller. This here is Henri." "I'm Fjord Morgan. These are my friends, Bahai Jordan and Marie-" "-Walters," Marie interrupted, jabbing Fjord out of the way with her elbow. "I'm Marie Walters. We were supposed to be in New York City right now, but our ship wasn't cleared for entry. So we came here for employment.

James blinked and Fjord offered him the flyer he had found. "Oh! I've been looking for this," he said, taking it and looking over it. "Yeah, Doctor Franklin isn't actually hiring anyone-"

"Now I am." Fjord nearly jumped at the voice of Benjamin Franklin. "Doctor Franklin!" Marie said in surprise. The large man chuckled and bent over slightly to see them better. "If it's a job you need, I'm sure I can find something for the three of you to do. Now, come into my study and we can all get better acquainted."


End file.
